The parents at the centre of the Ukip fostering row said the council had
behaved "like the mafia" and told them to keep quiet after
removing three children from their care.

Joyce Thacker, Director of Children's Service for Rotherham Council

By Steven Swinford and Sam Marsden

10:00PM GMT 27 Nov 2012

The couple believe Rotherham metropolitan borough council hoped they would "sink into the background" after social workers took the ethnic minority children away because they were members of the UK Independence Party.

The wife said: "These people will just do it again. They came round like the mafia and said we are taking the children because you are members of Ukip.

"We do feel that they had a hidden agenda. It was in their interests for us to keep quiet. These people thought we would just quietly sink into the background [but] we are not just going to go away and remain quiet, we have been so badly treated."

Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, condemned the council's decision as "indefensible" over the weekend after The Daily Telegraph revealed that the children had been taken away.

The Department for Education has mounted its own investigation and officials have demanded answers to a series of questions about the case.

Rotherham metropolitan borough council yesterday failed to apologise to the couple and refused to release the findings of an internal report into the case.

Social services did not confirm in writing to the foster parents the reason why the children were removed even after being repeatedly asked to do so.

The couple believe this was because the council did not want the true explanation for the move to be on record. The wife said they were concerned that this lack of clear documentation would leave an "unexplained black mark on their file."

The couple, who are in their fifties and have been described as "exemplary" foster parents, said they were concerned they were concerned the "slur" would count against them when they applied to look after children in future.

The wife said: "The issue for us here was not whether we could foster again, our agency told us that we can. It was whether the slur of character was going to hinder us from having any placements of our choice."

She added that the couple hope that the government would reduce the amount of red tape so that more families can foster children.

She said: "There are too many children in care that need loving homes. We want to see more people coming forward as we have done, but the criteria are too high. There are too many people that would make good parents that are backing out."

The row threatens to over-shadow the Rotherham by-election tomorrow, but the couple said their decision to come forward was not politically motivated.

"It is a total coincidence," said the wife. "Our main concern is the children. The wife said: "How can it be in their best interests to remove them at a moments notice without giving them the time to meet and get to know their new foster parents?"

Roger Stone, the council's Labour leader, said: "As we said on Saturday, membership of Ukip should not bar someone from fostering.

"We have been able to establish the facts in this case as far as is possible over the weekend, and I can confirm that the children are safe and in very good care.

"However, this remains a very complex case involving legal advice relating to the decision in question, particular features of the children's background and an external agency responsible for finding and providing the foster carers concerned."

A senior councillor in Rotherham has accused people of "wading in to pass judgement" on the Ukip fostering row without "any real knowledge" of the case.

Josephine Burton, a cabinet member at Labour-run Rotherham metropolitan borough council, told a member of the public that she was "disappointed" by coverage of the case.

Mrs Burton told a member of the public: "It may be advisable to wait until you have a better understanding of fostering and the current legislation that surrounds it, before wading in to pass judgement."